All about the genuine Sabah Claim Society

We are Philippine patriots who have grouped together from around the world and who created the Sabah Claim Society group originally on Facebook on 15 July 2011 and counted close to 6,000 members.

But on 5 October 2011 our group on Facebook was traitorously hijacked by two people we had invited to join us as group admins but who, we learned later on, had been hired to sabotage our patriotic group by a group of sinister individuals sporting fake European sounding nobility titles and other spurious Tausug/Sulu titles ['bestowed' and indiscriminately distributed on Facebook] and organized by a combined team of charlatans namely a datu (sporting a fake sultan title) and the latter's handler who is conveniently sporting an absolutely fake 'princely' title as well.

Please be warned that the said group of individuals, we believe, are in fact con artists out to "claim" Sabah for "get rich quick" reasons and are not genuine Philippine patriots. Their motive, we have discovered, is to be able to convince Malaysians that they are genuine Sulu royalty and pro-Philippine Sabah claim supporters in order to extract from Malaysia (which has control of Sabah today) a premium for letting go of the Sabah claim.

For more information on the Philippine Sabah claim, please join the ongoing discussions by clicking on the following link on Facebook: Philippine Sabah Claim Forum

Pages

Monday, 15 April 2013

One of the provisions in the 1963 Manila Accord: to settle the Sabah case in the international court but Malaysia has now decided they did not want to honour the UN treaty. Without Malaysia's agreement, the Philippines cannot push the ICJ to arbitrate.

Paragraph 12 of the Manila Accord:

"The Philippines made it clear that its position on the inclusion of North Borneo in the Federation of Malaysia is subject to the final outcome of the Philippine claim to North Borneo. The Ministers took note of the Philippine claim and the right of the Philippines to continue to pursue it in accordance with international law and the principle of the pacific settlement of disputes. They agreed that the inclusion of North Borneo in the Federation of Malaysia would not prejudice either the claim or any right thereunder. Moreover, in the context of their close association, the three countries agreed to exert their best endeavours to bring the claim to a just and expeditious solution by peaceful means, such as negotiation, conciliation, arbitration, or judicial settlement as well as other peaceful means of the parties' own choice, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations and the Bandung Declara tion."

Note this: "They agreed that the inclusion of North Borneo in the Federation of Malaysia would not prejudice either the claim or any right thereunder."

But the recent pronouncements of Najib contradicted what Malaysia had agreed upon with PH in the Manila Accord; he said that Kuala Lumpur will never never let go of Sabah. It is contrary to and is a violation of that agreement which is a UN treaty.

Yesterday, Najib made the following statement at a press conference in Lahad Datu: “The question of Sabah within Malaysia should not be disputed by anyone. Let not anyone underestimate Malaysia’s commitment to have Sabah within Malaysia forever. No one can dispute this, from within and outside the country. We will uphold the principle and fact of Sabah within Malaysia absolutely”.

And insisted that Najib was wrong:

Najib is wrong in making unilateral claims that Sabah belongs to Malaysia when historical legal documents and agreements may indicate otherwise.

The writer also continued to enumerate the salient points in that Manila Accord:

It was undoubtedly stated from the above provisions of the Manila Accord and joint statement that:

the inclusion of Sabah into the formation of Malaysia is subject to the Philippines claim; and

the Philippines’ claim on Sabah must be settled in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) run by the United Nations.

And with implaccable logic, stated:

Therefore, until such time when the ICJ has decided, Malaysia does not have absolute ownership of Sabah.

As Vidal called Najib to task, it became clear to me that there just might still be honourable people among the Malaysians:

By refusing to honour the Manila Accord and backtracking on the joint statement, has Najib not figuratively slapped the Philippines and Indonesia which were signatories to the historic documents?

Obviously, Najib was emboldened to issue his offending pronouncements and to not honour the Manila Accord because our own president's inaction and playing spokesman to Najib served as signals to Malaysia that the Philippines wouldn't do anything about the claim.

In that context, President Aquino is equally if not more guilty than Najib for waylaying the Manila Accord which is tantamount to his dismissing his Constitutional obligations. President Aquino's actions during the Sabah stand-off have clearly have emboldened Najib to overtly violate the Manila Accord which is a UN treaty.

By choosing to side with Najib and Malaysia rather than with the Sultanate of Sulu, the president is also guilty of violating the Republic's contractual obligation vis-à-vis the Sultanate of Sulu which was to prosecute the Sabah claim.

The President must realise that his refusal to push for the recognition of the 1963 Manila Accord during this critical period is tantamount to giving Najib and the Kuala Lumpur government the right to rape and plunder the Philippines. I really see no other way to put it.

Najib is wrong in making unilateral claims that Sabah belongs to Malaysia when historical legal documents and agreements may indicate otherwise.

According to the Manila Accord signed on July 31, 1963 and registered in the United Nations as document No. 8029, then Malayan deputy prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein (late father of the present Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak) met up with foreign minister Dr Subandrio of Indonesia, and vice-president Emmanuel Pelaez of the Philippines in Manila for five days from June 7 to 11, 1963, to discuss about the status of Sabah.

Consequently, it was agreed in writing by former Malayan prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman together with president Soekarno of Indonesia and president Diosdado Macapagal of the Philippines in paragraph 12 thereof:

“The Philippines made it clear that its position on the inclusion of North Borneo in the Federation of Malaysia is subject to the final outcome of the Philippines’ claim to North Borneo. The ministers took note of the Philippines’ claim and the right of the Philippines to continue to pursue it in accordance with international law and the principle of the pacific settlement of disputes. They agreed that the inclusion of North Borneo in the Federation of Malaysia would not prejudice either the claim or any right thereunder. Moreover, in the context of their close association, the three countries agreed to exert their best endeavours to bring the claim to a just and expeditious solution by peaceful means, such as negotiation, conciliation, arbitration, or judicial settlement as well as other peaceful means of the parties’ own choice, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations and the Bandung Declaration.”

Subsequently on Aug 5, 1963 in a joint statement released to international media, the same also agreed in writing under paragraph 8 thereof:

“In accordance with paragraph 12 of the Manila Accord, the three Heads of Government decided to request the British Government to agree to seek a just and expeditious solution to the dispute between the British Government and the Philippines Government concerning Sabah (North Borneo) by means of negotiation, conciliation and arbitration, judicial settlement, or other peaceful means of the parties’ own choice in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations. The three Heads of Government take cognizance of the position regarding the Philippines claim to Sabah (North Borneo) after the establishment of the Federation of Malaysia as provided under paragraph 12 of the Manila Accord, that is, that the inclusion of Sabah (North Borneo) in the Federation of Malaysia does not prejudice either the claim or any right thereunder.”

It was undoubtedly stated from the above provisions of the Manila Accord and joint statement that:

the inclusion of Sabah into the formation of Malaysia is subject to the Philippines claim; and

the Philippines’ claim on Sabah must be settled in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) run by the United Nations.

Therefore, until such time when the ICJ has decided, Malaysia does not have absolute ownership of Sabah.

Yesterday, Najib made the following statement at a press conference in Lahad Datu:

“The question of Sabah within Malaysia should not be disputed by anyone. Let not anyone underestimate Malaysia’s commitment to have Sabah within Malaysia forever. No one can dispute this, from within and outside the country. We will uphold the principle and fact of Sabah within Malaysia absolutely”.

Now, with the involvement of the two late former prime ministers of Malaysia – Tunku Abdul Rahman and Abdul Razak Hussein – in the Manila Accord and joint statement which contained straightforward and unambiguous stipulations, the question that begged to be answered now is: why did Najib lie to the whole nation without even blinking his eyes?

By refusing to honour the Manila Accord and backtracking on the joint statement, has Najib not figuratively slapped the Philippines and Indonesia which were signatories to the historic documents?

Internationally, is Najib not telling the whole world, especially foreign investors, that what Malaysia agrees and signs at any time may not be fulfilled or respected at Malaysia’s whims and fancies?

How are Malaysians going to face anyone overseas when our own prime minister has made us the butt of jokes and the laughing stock of the world?

Effectively, he has also slapped each and every Malaysian who has an ounce of dignity.

The writer is a former Sabah tour operator; loves food and speed; and blogs at http://legalandprudent.blogspot.com giving no quarters. The opinion and interpretation heretofore contained are exclusively his alone.

Defenders of Philippine Sabah and Spratly Claims

Defenders of Philippine Sovereignty

Click on picture to access Blog

NEMO NOS IMPUNE LACESSIT

"No one hits us with impunity!" (Click on picture to access Blog)

WHAT IS THE SABAH CLAIM SOCIETY?

The SABAH CLAIM SOCIETY blog serves as a repository of articles, documents, researches, and other publised material to help us all understand what the Philippine Sabah claim is all about and where it is at today. Our aim is to provide a 'pedagogical' platform, a learning tool that everyone is invited to use to discuss and learn about the standing Philippine Sabah claim.

For information, the SABAH CLAIM SOCIETY is NOT under the aegis of any Sultanate of Sulu group nor of any Facebook group linked to/headed by indviduals purporting to be sultan of Sulu, grand prince marshal, duke/duchess, count, viscount, marquis, baron, lord, lady, etc., etc. These European sounding nobility titles do not exist in the genuine Tausug or Sulu Sultanate culture and are therefore fake, a pure invention.

We are not a part of any government or non-governmental institution or agency whatsoever. We are just a group of genuine individual patriots who have come together from different parts of the globe to enforce and support the tenet that sovereignty rights of the Republic of the Philippines over Sabah must and should remain supreme.

WE GO BY THE DICTUM OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS SENATOR JOVITO SALONGA, FATHER OF THE PHILIPPINE SABAH CLAIM

"If, despite the assumed knowledge of the validity and justice of the Philippine claim, we fold our arms in mortal fear, we should lose not merely the respect of all law-abiding nations (the United Kingdom and the Asian countries in particular), but also a considerable measure of self-respect — which, to my mind, is more important — and, by our own inaction and timidity, lose our faith in the ultimate validity of that which is right and just. If, on the other hand, we come to the conclusion that the Philippine claim is without basis, then we should say so and let the British Government know our stand. Such candor and probity will undoubtedly inspire the respect of the entire free world."